Gautam Arora

Engineering Manager @ Meta (AI & VR). Writing from a personal lens about learning, software, and building apps for my kids. Views are my own.

[Gautam Arora @gautam]

Starting 2026 by writing more in public; mostly to think clearly.

I work on serious AI & VR systems, but the ideas that stick with me usually come from smaller places: learning, teaching, and building little tools at home.

This account will be personal, imperfect, and exploratory.

[Gautam Arora @gautam]

Day 2 wrapped - and marking off this very special disneyland trip as truly “magical”

[Gautam Arora @gautam]

Planned our family Disneyland trip with AI.

• Claude Code as the agent
• Claude Skills for research, planning, tracking, and journaling
• A simple companion web app for itineraries, maps, and on-the-go help

Planning is usually a chore.
This turned it into play.

[Gautam Arora @gautam]

Disneyland claude skills for trip research built using
1/ disney tips database from @amadad
2/ disney youtube videos parsed with summarize from @steipete

[Gautam Arora @gautam]

Day 1 at Disneyland - 13 rides, tracked & visualized! 🪄

[Gautam Arora @gautam]

Inspired by fellow dads exploring AI for personal software: @petergyang, @HamelHusain, @lennysan, @steveruizok

[Gautam Arora @gautam]

@HamelHusain A beautiful website and a wonderful edu podcast.
Subscribed - kids are going to love it!

[Gautam Arora @gautam]

@addyosmani Something a mentor told me always stuck with me: the best engineers can build “something out of nothing”.

The “nothing” was not a vacuum of ideas but the lack of specificity. That engineering skill was to drive clarity into the ambiguity to deliver “something” truly special.

[Gautam Arora @gautam]

@addyosmani Something a mentor told me always stuck with me: the best engineers can build “something out of nothing”.

The “nothing” was not a vacuum of ideas but the lack of specificity. That engineering skill was to drive clarity into the ambiguity to deliver “something” truly special.

[Gautam Arora @gautam]

@rspitzer Hey Rebecca - so good to reconnect!
Doing some fun projects for home & kids is the plan - just bringing back the magic! 🪄

[Gautam Arora @gautam]

Starting 2026 by writing more in public; mostly to think clearly.

I work on serious AI & VR systems, but the ideas that stick with me usually come from smaller places: learning, teaching, and building little tools at home.

This account will be personal, imperfect, and exploratory.

[Gautam Arora @gautam]

@ShawkyMesbah built a few mini apps for math and reading. planning a slightly larger one now that I have claude code by my side.

something that has stuck is that I need to push on the “fun” factor :)

[Gautam Arora @gautam]

@ajaydsouza Thanks Ajay. Happy New Year to you & family!

[Gautam Arora @gautam]

@smerchek @steipete would love to try this out if you’re planning to ship this 💛

[Gautam Arora @gautam]

@amadad @smerchek @steipete heading to Disneyland in 2 wks for my kids birthday. This will come very handy!

[Gautam Arora @gautam]

@petergyang @NanoBanana @cursor_ai Love this! The animal hospital theme is adorable. 💛

[Gautam Arora @gautam]

@ctmorley So Cool! Have to try this with my kids! 💛

[Gautam Arora @gautam]

Super excited for AI Agents in 2026:
@AIatMeta 🤝 @ManusAI

[Alexandr Wang @alexandr_wang]

Excited to announce that @ManusAI has joined Meta to help us build amazing AI products!

The Manus team in Singapore are world class at exploring the capability overhang of today’s models to scaffold powerful agents.

Looking forward to working with you, @Red_Xiao_!

[Reality Labs at Meta @RealityLabs]

Introducing Meta AI on Meta Quest—Your Smart MR Assistant, Coming Soon https://t.co/gXRYE8T8U2

[tipatat @tipatat]

Over $2b spent in the @MetaQuestVR #VR App Store! Congrats to all the devs!

[Meta Quest @MetaQuestVR]

It's here: #MetaQuest3, the first mainstream mixed reality headset built for immersive experiences.

🌍 Blend physical and digital worlds
🤏 Navigate with hands or controllers
🚫 No wires or battery packs

#MetaConnect2023